¡Hola!
Thanks for sharing your opinion!.
Regarding the example you have provided us with, the verb pretender is probably a complex one for learners of Spanish as a foreign language, as it is a false friend in English, this is, a word or expression that has a similar form to one in a person's native language, but a completely different meaning. Let us explain this particular case.
The most common definition for this verb in Spanish is querer ser o conseguir algo ("to want to become or get something"), as in Pretendo llegar a ser médico ("I hope to become a doctor"), thus, the closest (and easiest) equivalents in English are "to hope to", and "to want to". There are other minor equivalents to this, such as "aspire to", "to try to", "to intend to", and, in a completely different sense, this verb can also be translated as "to court" or "to woo".
We will continue adding further example sentences and senses to help our users understand these nuances in a more effective way. Please keep visiting our forum and stay tuned for further updates on our courses!
¡Feliz aprendizaje!

Hello!
Thank you all for this interesting thread!
Indeed, as many have already pointed out, if 'on' represents 'nous', the adjective and past participle agree to it in number (and gender, if 'nous' is 100% feminine).
So you do indeed say 'On était morts de rire' (the verb is always in third person singular) or 'On est partis tard'.
@Ry That's a good idea! I'll add a little explanation about it after the card.

My mother language is English and it's possibly the most boring language in the world!
My mother's family spoke Scots Gaelic and my mother used it as a child, but never taught us. (She used it only with her grandparents and stopped when they died).

In this context I wasn't meant to discuss process of finding the truth in Wikipedia articles, I just wanted to mention that they could be different enough to make it difficult to learn by putting them side by side and assuming that both sides express the same thought. Even with simple topics like bread, there could be different approaches, like one article could be focused on gluten related issues, another describing yeast controversy and third talking about different ways to make a dough. So, yeah, it could be a good source of materials in a target language, but not always a reliable source of bilingual materials.

@crush Thank you for your reply, and I'm glad you brought it up!
As you can see, many, including myself and the Oxford English Dictionary, believe that the phrase "long time no see" is a "loan phrase", originated from pidgin English spoken by early Chinese American immigrants. Yet to answer whether it comes from Mandarin or Cantonese, we will have to look into the backgrounds of these two languages.
Mandarin, though now widely spoken in both southern and northern China, is generally considered a northern dialect, whilst Cantonese is more of a southern dialect. Since both Mandarin and Cantonese can be traced back to centuries ago, and share some common linguistic features, it would be hard to pinpoint which language the phrase from.
In fact, my personal favourite wiki lists both Mandarin and Cantonese!
Having said all that, the podcast Code Switch of NPR offers another explanation that it could be from Native Americans. However, their conclusion is there's no clear evidence of its origin.
Have you discovered other stories behind the phrase (or other phrases and expressions)? Share with us!

@Graeme said in WordReference and Linguee:
I mostly use WordReference for looking up single words or common phrases, checking conjugations, and browsing the forums. I use Linguee for looking up more specific phrases as it searches through many bilingual websites to find you real translations of what you need to say.
Hi @Graeme, first of all, thanks for sharing these too great resources with us!
I looked into both WordReference and Linguee, and have been enjoying using them! I'm impressed by the number of languages these sites include. Also, just like you said, the feature that lists external bilingual sources of phrases that you're looking for is particularly useful when it comes to nuances and various contextual usages.
Here are some snapshots for those of you who haven't got a chance to check them out yet:
If I may, I'd like to share some interesting English dictionaries with you as well.
Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary
I'm sure you've all heard of Merriam-Webster, along with all the big names, such as Cambridge, Oxford, Collins...etc. This learner's Dictionary, however, explains meanings using simple English, therefore is particularly suitable for early-stage English learners who likes challenges!
2. visuword
This one is just so cool to look at. Especially if you're the kind of person, who is interested in word family, etymology, and prefers some visual stimulation!
Hope you'll have a chance to check them out. If you do, let us know what you think!

"Partially, this is because of religious standards. It's perfectly acceptable to say "Jesus Christ!" or "God Almighty!" without anybody threatening you with a heresy charge" the article says. Maybe that's so, but it's completely unacceptable to me. I am not a fan of euphemisms either!
My brother used to say "Buddha!" when he was a child, just to annoy our agnostic Buddhist-leaning mother.
Please don't say "Bloody Nora" - because Nora was my mother's name and she had no discernible sense of humour and would not have been pleased!

Hi Jen. I do think that learning another language has many advantages including logical thinking. I also feel, as an older person, it keeps my brain active and could help with some of the dementia's that afflict the older generations.
Loving Lingvist !

@Marlene I think 13 might be a magic number, i had a friend from Italy in high school who moved over when he was about 14 speaking no English whatsoever. Within a few months who spoke grammatically perfectly, but even after a couple years he always had a slight accent. His younger sister (who was 12) had no accent. I also met a kid from Ukraine when i was in Spain who had moved to Madrid when he was 13 and he also spoke Spanish with no noticeable accent.